Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-15
DAILY HERALD.
THE CORNER STONE
Of the New Turn-Verein
Hall on Spring Street.
A NOTABLE GERMAN EVENT
Concluding With Festivities and
Fireworks at the Second
Street Park.

Yesterday was day of general re
joicing on the part of all the Germal
residents of this city, for it marked tn
advance of the Turner Societies in
manner which could not be disputed
even if there was desire SO to do
The ceremonies, and festivities whicl
followed, were attendant upon the lay
ing of the cornerstone of New Turn
Verein Hall on Spring street near th'
middle of the block between Secont
and Third streets. A description o
the appearance of this new buildin,
appeared i'm the HERALD some timt
since, but at the present time the
foundation has only been laid, reach
ing, in the front, trifie above thu
sidewalk. A few weeks ago this lo
was occupied by the old wooden build
ing which is still in existence, having
been moved to Third street, where il
occupies the lot whereon stood the
Ashley House, destroyed by fire. In
q few weeks more the foundation
which is seen at the present time, will
have been added to, and then the
word description, as printed, can be
verified. 1t was in anticipation of the
laying of the cornerstone at the north
east corner of this foundation that the
members of the different Turner soci-
eties arose early and proceeded to the
front of the City Hall lot on Fort
street, where line was formed, and
under the Grand-marshalship of r. G.
Weyse, a very cred table procession
paraded through the city. 1t was
not until nearly 10 O'Clock that
the line of march was formed
and at that time there were over two
hundred members of the various So
cieties on the ground. At the head
of the procession was the Grand Mar
shal and Immediately after came
Meine Bros. band. The place Of
honor was given to the representa-
tives of San Diego and Santa Ana
Turn Vereins and the Anaheim
Verein of whom there were about a
dozen. Immediately following was
the Germania lodge 241 A. o. U. w
about forty strong. This body was
followed by the Schwaben Vereir
twenty-five strong, the Austrian
Verein, forty in number and the Turn
Verein Germania of nearly hundred
members. The rear was occupied by
carriages containing the officers of the
day. The bright colored badges o.
the orders and tn flags enlivened the
scene and it may truthfully be sale
that q better appearing parade was
never made by any local order. Tht
procession moved at 10 O'Clock ant
marched up Fort street to First, t.
Main, to the plaza where it counter
marched, down Main to Spring to tn
building site where platform ha,
been laid over the rafters and seat
provided for the ladies. A table 70
the use of the speakers occupied
position near the cornerstone and on i
was huge bouquet OF flower
and the square tin box con
tanning the papers and document
which were to be placed il
the hollow of the stone. 4
large audience had already collected
about the premises and when this
was added to by those who had
marched, the assemblage was fully as
large as the space would permit. The
band was given prominent position
and as places were taken by the soci
cites it discoursed sweet music. Presi
dent of the Day, Jac. Kuhrts, an
nounced that Mayor Workman, who
had been invited to make an address
was out of the city and had written
the following letter:
Mr.. Eugene Brunner, Secretary Turn
Herein Germania, l.. A., Cal.
DEAR SIR.-Your kindly invitation
to attend the ceremonies of laying the
corner stone of your new hall is much
appreciated by me. / regret exceed.
ingly that l cannot return your kind
remembrance in some manner at least
by being present at the above named
ceremonies, but circumstances will
compel my absence from the city al
that time. Accept my ardent desire
that success may crown your grand
enterprise, the recollection of which
will be indelibly impressed ON the
memory of the people as a glorious
evidence of your public spirit. | re-
main respectfully yours
w. II. WORKMAN.
After making the above announce
ment, Mr.. Jac. Kuhrts delivered the
following opening address, which was
received with great favor and frequent
applause:
MR.. JAG. KUHRTs ADDRESS.
Turner's and Friends-It gives me
great pleasure to see 80 many present,
which shows that the friends of the
Turn Verein in Los Angeles are not
growing less. My remarks will be
only history of the German societies
from the beginning to date. The first
German society was started in 1859 in
the old round house on Main street.
Its name was Teutonia Verein. From
there it moved into Stern's block,
when it was divided and an opposition
Turn Verein was started. Those who
went to Stern's Hall kept the name OF
Teutonia, and those who staid at the
round house gave themselves the
name of the Eintracht Verein. The
latter organization did not exist very
long. They put all their finances in a
bass fiddle, and old man L. Leech had
a mortgage on the fiddle. That broke
them up, and they went back to their
first love the Tuetonia Verein. The
old bass fiddle is in the possession Of
Germania Turn Verein to-day, and il
is kept with great care. To keep up
the Verein it was necessary to give
balls and picnics, which they found
difficult on account of the scarcity OF
angels. A committee was always ap-
pointed, which had hard work to get
them together. The angels they did
get were mixed like the German flag,
red, white and black, and there was
always some kicking against the com
mittee because there was too much
black color in the flag, to which my
old friend l.. Roeder said: "Well
what's the odds. Blow out the light
,rd thew are all alike.u In 1870, the